Found Myself An Old Solution
by Hollyleaf The Black Cat
Summary: Between working a job that isn't as fun as she thought it would be and facing a divorce with a man she thought she'd be with forever it's no surprise that a now 30-year-old Mabel Pines wants to escape her life for a while. And so she's lead back to Gravity Falls where with the help of friends, family, and a certain triangular dream demon she'll try to find happiness again.
1. Returning

**Author's Note:** So I was watching the second Peter Pan with my little brother one day and when it got to the part where an older Wendy meets Peter again I couldn't help but think of that situation with Mabel and Bill. What happens when she grows up and comes back and sees him again? Well that's what this fic is about. Mabel's grown-up life isn't a great as she thought it would be and so she returns to Gravity Falls to try to find the happiness she had as a kid and of course Bill will be a part of that, though warning you now that he won't appear until later chapters. Also think of this as like a spirit sequel to my other Mabill fic "But He Talks Like A Gentleman" (which you should totally read if you haven't.) A lot of elements of this fic come from headcanons of my friend Jaimie (lolitakaworu on FF) and she also beta'd for me and named Mabel and Dipper's spouses so THANK YOU JAIMIE! Finally, the title of this fic comes from the Florence + the Machine song Bedroom Hymns lyric "I'm not here looking for absolution because I found myself an old solution." which I believe perfectly describes this fic. Anyway, without further ado, here is Chapter 1: "Returning."

* * *

Looking out the window of the plane as it descended into the Portland International Airport, Mabel Pines couldn't help but smile. She hadn't been back to Oregon since her brother got married almost 7 years ago, and then it'd only been for about two days, and something about it just filled her with giddy. Gravity Falls awaited only about an hour away.

She closed the sketchbook she'd been working in and slipped it in her bag as the plane came to a stop. After hearing the all clear to unbuckle and unload, Mabel quickly made her way out of the crowded terminal and down to the baggage claim. She grabbed her two bags from the conveyer belt and then headed toward the exit.

She scanned the small groups of people gathered around, looking for her ride. There were people crying and hugging and laughing, just all excited to see those that they hadn't in a long time. Then, standing toward the corner of the room, Mabel saw her group. They noticed her about the same time she noticed them and they all started towards each other. Mabel was positively beaming to see her brother again after so long.

"Hey bro-bro!" Mabel shouted to the tall bearded man wearing a familiar blue and white pine tree hat.

Dipper Pines gave his twin sister a big smile. "Hey, Mabel." He held his arms out to her. "Awkward sibling hug?"

Mabel let go of her bags and smiled. "Awkward sibling hug." So they hugged, patted each other on the back, and let go.

"Daddy, that's what we do too!" rang out the voice of an excited little girl standing behind Dipper. The little boy beside her just nodded in agreement. They'd obviously gotten most of their looks from their dad because Mabel couldn't help but look at them and see little clones of her and Dipper.

Dipper picked up the little girl with a laugh. "Yeah, I know! I taught you two."

"So are these two my niece and nephew I've seen running around on Skype?" she asked. "Little Ruby and Forrest?"

"Yep," began Dipper, "my Irish twins. They've been excited all day about finally meeting their Aunt Mabel in person."

"Well I've been excited about meeting them!" she said. "I even brought presents!"

"Presents!" yelled both of them in unison.

"Ah- no presents until we get home. Your aunt probably would like to get to the house to rest. She's had a long flight from New York," said Dipper. He grabbed his son's hand and off the four of them went toward the parking lot.

"So Daddy says that you a fashion designer there!" exclaimed Ruby as they walked.

Mabel nodded. "Yep! I sure am!"

"Can you make me a dress that I can have adventures in but still look really cute? One that I can get dirty without Mommy getting mad?"

"Sure," laughed Mabel. "Have you considered wearing more sweaters though?"

"Your aunt was the queen of sweater making," Dipper said as he set his daughter down to pop the trunk of his SUV. "You should've seen 'em."

"I still make some sweaters," she said as she stuffed her bags in the back.

"Hey, what was it you recently made that got featured in that magazine?" asked Dipper as he loaded his kids up in the vehicle.

Mabel hopped into the front seat. "My umbrellas?"

"Yeah," began Dipper, nodding, "that was it." He started the car up and off they headed toward Gravity Falls.

Mabel thought back to her umbrella collection; not really what she had hoped to be designing but she guessed everyone had to start somewhere. And they did end up in a magazine with a model holding Mabel's favorite: one that looked to be made of yellow bricks with a single eye in the very middle. A tribute to an old friend.

She looked out the window as city asphalt slowly became woods. She wondered if she'd see him again. With how life had been going, maybe a little chat with him would be nice.

"So how's the, uh, August thing?" asked Dipper once Forrest and Ruby had fallen asleep in the back. He coughed a little as he spoke, trying his hardest to nonchalantly bring the subject up.

"You mean my divorce?" Mabel sighed. "Just another failed romance. I think I'll take Wendy's advice and give up on men."

Mabel could feel her mood souring as she thought about her soon-to-be ex-husband so she quickly changed the subject. "How's Lucille?"

"Good," began Dipper, "She wanted to make sure our house was presentable for you and then she went to the Mystery Shack to clean you a room out. Grunkle Stan and Soos have been using the extra rooms to store merchandise and stuff. Sorry we don't have an extra room for you with us."

"It's fine, bro! I've missed the Mystery Shack!" She then noticed a sign declaring "Now Entering Gravity Falls". She sighed. "I've missed Gravity Falls."

Dipper looked over at her. The thing about twins were you couldn't hide your emotions from each other. He knew that Mabel had come to Gravity Falls to essentially take a vacation from her life in The Big Apple. She wouldn't show it around anyone, she'd always kept up that happy demeanor, but he knew that she was getting down. Between a job that wasn't as a glamorous as she thought it would be when she joined it and a divorce with a man she thought she'd be with forever, it wasn't really surprising that she'd be feeling kinda depressed.

"We've missed you around here too. That's why we're going to the Mystery Shack first. Grunkle Stan and Soos would probably like to see you. Luci wants to take you out to dinner tonight, though."

"Will it be Greasy's?" she asked, excitedly.

"If that's what you want," he replied.

"Yup! Can't beat the local Gravity Falls food."

He smiled and turned back to the road. "You know maybe we can solve some mysteries while your here. There are still a lot of weird things that go on."

Mabel smiled. "That sounds fun." Maybe some mystery solving would be helpful in taking her mind off things; maybe it'd help her to feel like a kid again, happier, freer.

She stared back out the window as the Mystery Shack started to come into view. _Maybe._

* * *

Ok so this is more like a prologue rather than a full chapter but I hope it got you all excited for more! I recently got a job and it keeps me super busy, especially paired with my summer college classes, so updates will be sporadic as I'll have to work hard to find the time to do them. Anyway the next chapter obviously involves them arriving at the Mystery Shack and we get a look at what's happened to some of our favorite characters like Soos, Stan, Wendy, etc. We also get to meet Dipper's wife Lucille and Mabel gets to catch up on what's been happening in Gravity Falls. As always reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! See y'all next chapter! ;D


	2. Partying

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited! Also my friend Jaimie showed me another song that I think is very fitting for this fic. It's "Old Friend" by Sea Wolf so definitely go give it a listen to. Also Jaimie betas all of my chapters so thank her very much for that! Anyway, here is Chapter 2: "Partying."

* * *

Mabel was jumping with excitement as she grabbed her stuff out of the back of Dipper's SUV. She stared out at the Mystery Shack and was overcome with nostalgia. There was that signature sign with it's still missing 'S', Wendy's little hiding area on the roof, the totem pole, the weather vane. Nothing had changed except for some chipping, fading paint and newly warped boards that needed repairs. Time, she thought a bit forlornly, would do that to a place.

Dipper walked over to her, his kids asleep, one in each arm and holding onto his neck. "Got everything?"

Mabel nodded. "Yep! All set."

"Great," he began as they made their way toward the shack, "I'm going to take these two upstairs for a nap but Luci told me that they were going to be out back if you want to head on out there."

"Where should I put my stuff?" she asked.

Dipper looked around for a moment and then shrugged. "Uh, just leave them in here for now. Luci will know what room to put you in."

So Mabel set her bags by the door as Dipper began ascended up the stairs and then she headed toward the back. She felt a mix of nerves and excitement about seeing everyone again. It'd been so long. How had everyone changed? What would they think about how she had changed? There was only one way to find out.

When Mabel opened the door, she was immediately met with shouts of "Welcome back, Mabel!" She smiled at all the excited faces of her friends.

There was Wendy, her hair even longer than before but overall mostly the same looking Wendy with her classic lumberjack style. There was Soos, a bit bigger, wearing a suit that was covered in dirt. Mabel remembered Dipper said Soos was helping Grunkle Stan not only with repairs but also with tours now. Speaking of Grunkle Stan, he was sitting sat at the end on the picnic table in his wheelchair (he'd broken his hip a few years ago and had to have it replaced recently after some setbacks) wearing his iconic suit and fez, which now covered a bald head.

Then walking up to her was a woman she had only seen a few times in the past seven years; Dipper's wife, Lucille Pines. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up in a long ponytail that bounced as she walked and she wore a bandana over her head. Her huge green eyes were shining behind her large, round glasses. With an emerald green polo, khaki shorts, and hiking boots, one might mistake her for a park ranger or summer camp counselor, not the college professor that she was.

She pulled Mabel into a hug. "Mabel! Oh, it's so great to see you again!"

"You too, Lucille!"

Luci let her go and cupped her hands with her own. "I told you, call me Luci! Oh, come on, I should let you catch up with everyone else!" So She took her hand and led her toward the table. Mabel noticed that a feast had been laid out on it, including a giant cake in the middle that read "Welcome Home!"

"Is all this for me?" asked Mabel, taken aback by the enormous amounts of kindness dished out for her sake.

Luci nodded. "Yeah, I thought it'd be nice to have a little party. I was planning on just taking you out to eat but then I thought why not just make you some homemade food for your first day back. I just didn't think about how my mom's recipes are made for families of 10 not just 5."

"That's why we invited a couple more people," said Wendy, pointing toward the other side of the yard.

Mabel turned around and saw her two best friends, Candy and Grenda, and a man that Mabel didn't recognize. Candy's hair was shorter and she wore no glasses. Grenda wore her hair down and she looked even stronger than when Mabel last saw her. The man with them was as skinny as a stick and his long, shaggy hair dropped down in front of his eyes. Considering that Grenda's arm was wrapped around him, Mabel assumed they were together.

"MABEL!" shouted Grenda as she squeezed Mabel in a tight hug.

"Nice to see you Mabel," whispered Candy.

Mabel took a minute to catch her breath after Grenda let her go. "It's nice to see you guys too!" She then looked over at the unfamiliar man. "And it's nice to meet, uh-"

"He's my boyfriend, Evan! He's so hot!" said Grenda, before he ever got the chance to get a word in. "Evan, say hi to Mabel!"

"Hey," he said, while he tossed his hair out of his eyes.

About that time Dipper came out of the house and walked over to Luci. "Kids asleep?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yep." Dipper rubbed his hands together, excited. "So, we ready to have a party?"

"Yeah!" shouted everyone.

So the evening continued with eating, drinking, hugging, and chatting. It was interesting to hear tales of where everyone had ended up at this stage in life. Candy worked at the local history museum. Grenda worked security at the same history museum (Mabel should have assumed the two could never be separated, even in occupation). Soos and Melody, still a wonderfully happy pair, were expecting their first child; Melody was visiting her parents and wouldn't be back for a week. Wendy was single and working part-time at the Mystery Shack and part-time helping her brothers with their lumberjack business. Logging paid better than tourist traps, who knew.

"So, you having fun?" asked Dipper once he got the chance to get her away from the hubbub. He leaned up against the house beside her and they both stared off at Forrest and Ruby, now up from their naps, tossing a ball with Soos as Grunkle Stan hollered at them to stop tossing it his way because it kept hitting his head.

"Of course!" began Mabel, "It's been great seeing everyone again! Everyone seems to be doing pretty good," Her voice trailed off and Dipper quickly changed the subject.

"Hey, Luci was thinking us and Soos and the kids could all go to the lake tomorrow. Maybe we can hunt the Gobblewonker again," he said, giving her a nudge with his elbow. "Huh?"

Mabel smiled, feeling the anxiety that had started to creep in dissipate. "Sounds like a plan, bro-bro," she said, and felt genuinely excited for a good old fashioned mystery hunt. Almost like the old days.

Suddenly Luci appeared beside them. "Stan, honey, can you help me put the grill back up?"

Mabel couldn't help but giggle. It was weird to hear anyone call her brother by his real name after hearing everyone call him Dipper for so long.

"Sure thing, sweetie," he said as the two of them walked away.

Mabel turned back around and kept watching Forrest and Ruby play as a memory floated through her mind.

 _Mabel fiddled around with the end of her skirt as she waited for her husband to get home. She was anxious as she played around with different ways to tell him this earth-shattering news in her head._

 _"Mabel! I'm home! Is dinner ready yet?!" shouted August from the front door._

 _Mabel jumped up. "Yeah! I'm in the kitchen!"_

 _When he turned corner into the room, he stood there for a moment looking at her. "Everything alright? You look a bit under the weather." He walked past her to get a plate from the cabinets. "If you're sick, go lay down. I've got a big presentation at the end of this week and I can't get sick."  
_

 _"I-I'm not sick," she began. "I...I-"_

 _August sat down at the table in front of her. "What's wrong then?"_

 _"Well," began Mabel, "uh..."_

 _"Pit it ou, Mubel," he said, through a mouth full of food._

 _"I'm pregnant!" she shouted._

 _Everything got quiet for a moment. August just started at her, eyes wide, then swallowed and began speaking. "Really? We're going to have a baby?"_

 _Mabel nodded and smiled._

 _August jumped up and hugged her, a huge smile on his face. "Mabel, this is wonderful!" He pulled her into a kiss and then pressed his forehead against hers. "This is wonderful."_

Mabel got knocked out of her memories when she heard Ruby yelling at her. "Aunty Mabel! Aunty Mabel could you go get our ball, please?!"

Mabel looked around and then noticed it sitting near the edge of the woods. She walked over to it, picked it up to head back, but when she turned around she felt a chill up her spine. It wasn't a chill out of fear but one that came when you knew someone was watching you. She turned back toward the forest and looked around, wondering if she would be able to see him, just a glimpse. But she knew he probably wouldn't come out with everyone around.

She glanced back one last time, trying to spot him, before returning to the party.

A single, glowing blue eye watched her every step back.

* * *

So we've caught up to where everyone is in life and meet some new faces. We've also caught a glimpse into Mabel's life in New York and it makes you wonder where it went wrong. Well, we'll be finding that out later. Also I'm thinking about maybe doing the next chapter from Bill's POV but no promises. Don't know when it will be up so just keep watch for it. As always reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! See y'all next chapter! ;D


	3. Visiting

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter that finally introduces Bill. I was originally planning to hold off bringing him in and then I decided to bring him in and here he is. Thanks to Jaimie (asexualbillcipher) for betaing this chapter. Anyway, here is Chapter 3: "Visiting." **  
**

* * *

Bill Cipher hated being bored. One would think that a dream demon with an indescribable amount of powers wouldn't get bored easily, but Bill did. When you've lived for eons, eventually your own powers bore you and you have to find other things to entertain with. For Bill, that thing was those meat sacks known as humans.

Whether it was driving a hermit physicist insane or stealing the body of a 12-year-old, Bill always got a kick out of playing around with humans. Especially the Pines twins.

Something about the two of them intrigued Bill, albeit in different ways though. Pine Tree was just fun to mess with, to manipulate, but Shooting Star, well…she was unlike any other human Bill had met.

She was tough yet soft, excited yet scared, confident yet insecure. She was a ball of contradictions; it was part of what made her so intriguing to him.

Bill thought often about all the times the two of them had spent together over the long years. There were the most serious times like the rooftop talks, but there were also the funny times like the pranks they'd played on Pine Tree (of course, he would never know Bill played a part in those). All of those had been such interesting times and Bill honestly couldn't remember being bored with Mabel. She was too chaotic, and Bill reveled in chaos.

The times she would leave Gravity Falls, after the summers ended, Bill felt things getting boring again. Time normally felt so short to him but for some reason it seemed to drag when he would have to wait for the summer to return so that she would return.

However, after Mabel moved to New York, the summer after she graduated high school, she didn't return to Gravity Falls but once. And Bill began feeling the boredom again, and, annoyingly to him, some loneliness.

The one time she did return, 7 years ago for Pine Tree's wedding, it was only for a brief two days and she was always with _someone_ so Bill never really got a chance to visit her. He would've went to her in her dreams but he honestly didn't think she'd slept, too hyped up on Mabel Juice and party planning.

Now here he was, floating outside the window of her room, waiting for her to come return. He'd been watching her since she'd arrived in Gravity Falls but he realized that she hadn't noticed his presence until her coming-home party.

Suddenly, the door to her room opened and in she walked, pajamas on, rubbing a towel over her wet head. She laid it around her neck and dug through her bag until she pulled out a sketch book. She plopped down on the bed, pulled her knees up close, and began drawing away.

Bill decided now would be as good as time as any to visit her. He morphed into his human form and stood there for a minute to adjust. He didn't particularity like taking his human form, what with it's gangly limbs and the feeling of weakness it gave him when he was in it, but it really was the only way for him to visit her in the real world and not the Mindscape.

So he adjusted his top hat and waist coat then tapped on her window with his cane. Mabel jumped at the unexpected sound and slowly made her way toward the window. When her brown eyes met his blue one, he grinned. "Hey, kid," he mouthed.

Her face lit up with joy as she opened the window. "Bill!" she shouted as she leaned out and wrapped her arms around his neck. He gave a small groan of discomfort; it always felt weird when Mabel hugged him, he just wasn't used to physical contact, but he wouldn't stop her.

When she let him go she motioned for him to come in. He quickly stepped forward and ending up colliding with the outer wall. It hurt for a moment and Bill frowned. He momentarily had forgotten he couldn't just flow through things in this human body.

So he carefully climbed through the window but ended up tripping and falling to the floor, much to his own embarrassment. Mabel giggled a little as she returned to her bed. Bill quickly stood up and dusted himself off then started strolling around her room.

"So, you happy to see me, Shooting Star?"

Mabel nodded. "Of course I am! It's been," She pondered for a moment, "Quite a while."

"It sure has," he began, flicking a Stan bobble head that sat on a shelf.

"How have you been?" she asked.

He shrugged as he continued around her room. "Normal as a dream demon can be. What about you, kid? How's this big blue marble been treating you?"

"I'm alright," began Mabel, slowly, "I have a job and a house and life's been...good."

"So what're you doing back here?" he asked.

"...I just wanted to visit," she began and Bill could tell in her voice she was lying. And she could tell he could tell. "Please don't read my mind." She begged, not wanting her privacy invaded so deeply.

If it was anyone else, Bill would just ignore the request and do it anyway. But for some reason, if Shooting Star requested something of him, he almost felt like he had to obey.

So he changed the subject. "Whatcha drawin' there, kiddo?" He walked over to her and leaned over her shoulder. He was a bit surprised to see it was covered in doodles of his human form wearing various sweater vests.

She turned her head to him and smiled, "You're a good model."

"You mean you like this human form?" he asked, bemused.

She nodded as she continued sketching. "Your human form is nice looking. I really like how your dark complexion works with the colors and your head was just made for hats."

He just shrugged. "Got to say I prefer my usual form, kid."

"Well, your usual form makes a nice design. See," she said, pointing to one of the doodles.

He stared down at it and noticed the vest had various yellow brick patterned triangles on it.

"You use me on a lot of stuff?"

She shrugged. "A couple of things. You made a very popular umbrella."

"You mean you designed me as a piece of domed plastic on a stick?" He flopped down on her bed and stared at her ceiling. "Odd choice."

"Hey, it got featured in a magazine. Plus it's all my boss would let me do." She sounded a bit sour and Bill wondered why. He took a peek in her head.

 _"Look, sweetie, these are great designs but Mrs. Yates wants people who are a bit more...experienced to do the bigger pieces. How about accessories? You could do a line of spring umbrellas and then we'll go from their next time," said a snootily dressed, middle-aged woman, the edges of her mouth curling into a condescending smile._

 _Mabel just nodded as she closed her sketchbook. She was smiling as well, but it was all to hide her disappointment. "Of course, Ms. Herring. I completely understand. I'll get started on an umbrella design right away."_

 _"That's good," began Ms. Herring, as she started walking away. Then she turned back to Mabel. "Oh, and I heard you're expecting. Congratulations."_

 _"Thanks," said Mabel, looking down at her stomach and smiling._

 _"All the more reason that you should focus on a smaller project."_

"You work with some weird humans," he said.

Mabel paused drawing and then frowned. "Bill, I asked you not to get in my head."

"Come on, Shooting Star. It was just a little look. If I wanted I could learn every thought you've ever had," He then rolled over on his side to look at her. "So did you get what you expected, kid?"

"…What?" asked Mabel, confused.

"Some woman said you were expecting. What were you expecting?"

Mabel froze up for a moment. Then she just silently replied, "It's just an expression, Bill. Something humans say. It's nothing."

But Bill knew it was something. He could tell by her body language, her voice. everything He wondered why she wasn't telling him about it. Normally, she would talk to him about anything when they were together, though he supposed that had been eons ago to her. Still, he had the feeling this must be something really wrong.

He raised up then crossed his arms on her knees, then rested his head on them. "Something's eating you, kid, and you know you're no fun when you're sad. Want to do something fun? We could go scare some humans camping in the woods. Or we could find different kinds of forest animals to take organs from or-"

Mabel cut him off. "I'm not sad, Bill. I'm just tired. It's been a long day." She reached over and grabbed his top hat and placed it on top of his ruffled, black hair. Then she smiled at him. "How about we talk some more tomorrow? Maybe we can even watch the sunrise again."

He raised up and nodded as he grabbed his cane. "If that's what you want, Shooting Star. I'll see ya tomorrow." He was just about to revert to his usual form before he felt her arms wrap around him again.

"It was good to see you again, Bill," she whispered against his chest.

He just nodded; it was really all he knew to do during a hug. "You too, kid. You too." Then he reverted to his usual form and disappeared from the room.

When he was out in the forest her paused for a moment and thought about Mabel. She wasn't her usual fun self and whatever this problem was it wouldn't be solved over a morning chat. No, Mabel needed something really great to get her spirits back up.

He wondered if giving her a chipmunk's heart would do the trick.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed that chapter. In the next one we have Mabel and Dipper searching for the Gobblewonker again, Bill appearing at a bad time, and a deeper look at Mabel and August's relationship. Keep a look out for the update! As always reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. See y'all next chapter! ;D


End file.
